Soil and Cultivation. 
29 
This condition of things exists on the sides of Norfolk rivers, 
and to an extraordinary extent in the Fen Country, deposits 
of twelve to fifteen feet being found in certain places. A tree 
planted, however, in pure peat would make but slow growth, 
and would not have enough vitality to arrest the attacks of 
the Giant Sirex caterpillar. When the trees get into soft 
clay, silt, or sand, they prosper greatly ; but it seems that any 
trees which have too great a proportion of peat do not arrive 
at the same condition of health, have a very much shorter life, 
and are at no time likely to produce the best quality of bats, 
or, in fact, good timber for any other purpose. 
It is obvious that it will always pay to plant in a better rather 
than in an inferior soil ; and although this is the case with all 
plants, it is believed that it is still more important with the 
willow for bat making than with other trees. 
The greater rapidity of growth causes the timber to be formed 
of larger cells, and these must in theory, if not in practice, 
produce a lighter bat than one that is composed of smaller 
cells; and as lightness is one of the most important characteristics 
it would naturally increase the value of the timber. 
Cultivation. 
At first sight it might be thought that sets should be planted 
in the autumn, as is the rule in planting ordinary trees ; but 
although the tree may hold its vitality through the winter, it 
does not appear that the willow set does this, and therefore it 
is better not to cut off the sets till after the frosts have gone. 
They should then be placed in water for a month or so to allow 
them to drink their fill and to produce short shoots. 
After they have been planted for two or three weeks it is 
desirable to send a woodman to stamp round the sets, especially 
if they are in an exposed position, since the effect of the wind 
is to loosen the surrounding soil and allow them to move to 
leeward. This is far more detrimental to sets than to ordinary 
trees, since the movement of the tree would not so much affect 
long roots spread in a lateral direction ; whereas in the case 
of the willow, which starts its natural life by small roots 
all down the stem, movement must inevitably break them off 
or otherwise injure them. 
All long willow sets will throw out side shoots when first 
planted, and these must be rubbed off twice in the first year 
when about six inches long, or at any rate before the shoots 
become so tough that, in rubbing, a portion of the bark of the 
stem is torn. This ensures a clean trunk, and prevents any 
knots which would otherwise disfigure the timber when 
brought into use. 
